Green River Preserve

Outer Banks Scouting Trip

Karen — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 21:57:19 +0000

Are you excited if you are signed up for an Outer Banks trip this summer! Stephen, Phen, and I have just returned from spending five days on the Outer Banks scouting for this upcoming season. We met up with Allison Sill, the lead mentor for the OBX trips for 2012. She is fantastic! I am personally jealous of all the expeditioners and the time you will get to spend with this incredibly knowledgeable lady. You are in for an adventure!

The highlight of the scouting trip for all of us was getting out on the water. Saturday, Allison and Stephen paddled from the town of Beaufort out to Shackleford Island and Cape Lookout. A total of 10 miles! Shackleford is the home to roughly 120 wild horses in addition to miles of shore and sea life. Allison, a marine science teacher, was able to point out multiple creatures along the paddle including a conch laying her eggs!

Phen and I took the ferry from Harker’s Island and met our rock-star paddlers on Cape Lookout. We all explored the seashore, Phen played in the sand (and ate some too!), and then we took the ferry back to Harker’s to conclude our day.

The other scouting days were spent venturing out in the area to visit campgrounds, the National Park Visitor’s Center, the Maritime museum, and exploring the White Oak River. This is a blackwater river filled with some incredible ecological diversity. The expeditioners will spend the first few days of the trip polishing up their paddling skills while exploring this river system.

We still have a few spots open in OBX 3, and 1 spot remaining in OBX 2. Don’t wait to sign up – this is a trip you won’t want to miss.

GRP Makes a Difference: Katie’s Story

Karen — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 13:17:05 +0000

I first attended Green River as a rising 7th grader in 1993. With only one exception, I have been back (usually more than once) each year since then. I’ve been a camper, an expeditioner, a CIT, a co-counselor, a counselor, a guest mentor, and a persistent visitor. I know the love, self-confidence, and connection to nature that I continue to feel began that first summer I spent as a three-weeker.

I still have my journals from my years as a counselor, and I thought I would share this excerpt from my journal on August 9, 2001 (at the end of my second summer as a counselor) to begin to tell my story:

“Most of us love this land, this place, these people. And it’s so wonderfully comfortable here. I’ve had years when it was heartbreaking to leave (this is quite true — you can ask Sandy about the year we threatened to move into Indian Cave). But, very gradually, over the years, I’ve come to realize that you can bring a bit of Green River with you. You can use that comfort and love to launch into bigger things. Just as you use the encouragement of people here to climb the tower or sing in front of the group – you can use that to move on to do something different.”

So, here I am 11 years later, and I still return to memories of Green River as well as the actual physical place to keep myself grounded. I have several favorite spots along the river, and my journals are dappled with notes of visits to Green River for renewed connection, happiness, peace, and four seasons of river dunking to keep myself in the moment. My connection to nature, nurtured by my time at GRP, is what has sustained me in times of difficulty and inspired me in times of happiness.

I’m so thoroughly convinced of its healing effects that I’ve created a unique program to bring nature to kids who are stuck in the hospital. The program, called Healing and Hope Through Science (www.healingandhopethroughscience.org) is a part of the NC Botanical Garden at UNC, and essentially brings modified GRP activities to hospitalized children at Duke and UNC Children’s Hospitals. We’ve even created (with lots of help, including from former staff member, Mac McMillan) a model of the Green River with filtered water and rock so kids can play in the creek from their hospital beds. I am so grateful for my continued connection to Green River and for the meaningful work it has inspired.

~ Katie (Vogel) Stoudemire (camper, expeditioner, CIT, co-counselor, counselor, guest mentor)

2012 Summer Staff Update

Karen — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 19:47:01 +0000

2012 Summer Staff Update!

Lead Staff
Harrison Boyd – Program Assistant

Activity Mentors
Mellie Lonneman (pottery)
David Sheldon (painting)

Mentors
Stephanie Compton
Star Ellis
Steven Emery
Laura Fieselman
Jeff Gottlieb
Hawk Hurst
Owen Kinney
Pawel Nazarwetz
Reed Perkins
Elizabeth Stabenow
Martha Wallace
Ben “Bentor” Wyrick

Counselors
Hannah Ball-Damsberg
Denton Baird
Zac Bartholomew
Becca Bland
Travis Bordley
Sarah Clark
Cate Coley
Ed Critikos
Freddie Delchamps
Vivian Delchamps
Orion Goodman
Sarah Gottlieb
Candice Giffin
Lean Hindal
Lawton Jeffords
Emily O’Day
Silas McRae
Charlie Myers
Sean Papa
Chandler Roberts
Amelia Schirmer
Lauren Segarra
India Stallings
Jen Withrow

Expeditions
Allison Sills (OBX)
Richard Marks (OBX)
Mackenzie Robinson (OBX)
Dan Nudel (BRX)
Kaitlyn Varnot (BRX)
Daniel Foster (BRX)
Caitlin Graham (BRX)

Nurses
Nancy Boudurant
Chris Constanza
Jack Holland
Amanda Kowalski
Deb McDonald
Smita Sawyer
Karen Sheffield
Cynthia Van Duesen

Camp Moms
Beatty Hayne Grey
Anne Heck
Tom Heck
Hayley Holland
Rebeka Kinney
Kelly Massey
Eileen Noonan
Kimberly Rose

Road Show: Greenville, SC Open House Sunday February 26th

Jane — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 15:23:04 +0000

OPEN HOUSE THIS SUNDAY!

Please join GRP on Sunday at the Fitzers’ home for an open house and reunion! If you have any friends that are interested in Green River Preserve, please let them know about the event. The Open House is from 3:30 to 5:30 PM at Reuben, Isaac, and Shona Fitzers’. Their address is 139 West Mountainview Ave, Greenville, SC 29609.

The invitation link is http://paperless.ly/z4wrMA. Please click on the link for more information and to rsvp! Hope to see you there!

Flat Rock Playhouse and Green River Preserve Presents: A Summer Theatre Arts Intensive Camp

Jane — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 15:16:35 +0000

Flat Rock Playhouse and Green River Preserve Presents:

A Summer Theatre Arts Intensive Camp

Dear GRP Families,

We are extremely excited to share with you Green River Preserve’s NEWEST summer camp program; a Theatre Arts Intensive Camp in partnership with the YouTheatre of Flat Rock Playhouse which is the State Theatre of North Carolina and one of the top theatres nationwide. The camp will be a coed and residential that runs concurrently with session 5 base camp, August 5th – 10th. Open to campers in the rising 6th through 9th grades, it is in keeping with our mission and philosophy to connect bright, curious and creative children with the joy and wonder of nature and the arts. Attached is a detailed description of the program and a link to both of our websites: www.greenriverpreserve.org/base-camp/theatre-arts-intensive-camp/ and www.YTROCKS.com.

The Theatre Camp has been a work in progress since 2004; often overlapping with our three week session. The camp began as a small, local endeavor and we realized quickly that many of our GRP campers would enjoy it, too. When we began making plans for this summer’s theatre camp, we felt the time was right for opening it up to all of our GRP families.

Campers during this session will be guided by both our GRP staff of naturalists and the staff of the YouTheater of Flat Rock Playhouse.

YouTheatre Staff

The talent and expertise of The Playhouse professional staff is incredible. Rarely would campers have this opportunity to be mentored by such a skilled and talented group of performers and artists.

Nature has been a core foundation for artists, playwrights, actors, musicians and directors throughout history. Each summer we witness the talents of many of our campers and staff and are in awe of the inspiration they find in being at GRP. This weeklong program will offer campers the opportunity to strengthen character, and heighten appreciation and awareness of the natural world, its influence in the arts and the ability to be their “Best Me at GRP.”
Please join us in welcoming the YouTheater of the Flat Rock Playhouse to Green River Preserve. We are looking forward to our partnership with them in this program and hope many of you will consider registering for the session.

Registration for the camp is through the Green River Preserve website: www.greenriverpreserve.org. If you have any questions about the program, please do not hesitate to email or call (828-698-8828) us at the camp.

See you this summer!

Missy and Sandy Schenck

How Will I Pay for Camp?

Karen — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 17:58:28 +0000

by Missy Schenck

As a single parent in the 80s sending my four children to summer camp was not a line item in my budget. Working at a summer camp and trading my salary for their camp tuition was! I knew that summer camp was critically important to youth development and I was going to find a way to make it happen for my children. It was time to be creative.

For ten years I went away to summer camp with my children. I began as an arts and crafts coordinator and after one year filled the role of Summer Camp Director. My children lived in camper cabins for ten weeks and I bunked with the other senior staff members. I had one electrical socket in the single light bulb in the ceiling of the room, showered in a community shower house and slept on an iron army bunk. All my meals were cooked for me and my laundry went out once a week with the camp service.

The camp community embraced us and life was beyond perfect. I was totally unplugged and I loved every minute of this sanctuary away from the real world. Most of all I loved seeing what a difference camp made in the lives of young people. It was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.

Did you know as GRP camper parents this may be an option for you? Some of our summer staff positions are ones that you as camper parents may be able to fill. Most of our summer camp nurses or doctors are camp parents who come by the camp session and trade their salary for their camper’s tuition. Our “office mom” fills the many gaps in the camp office including sorting camper mail, answering the phone, and hugging homesick campers. Activity coordinators are art teachers, swimming instructors, music teachers, and various other talented people or parents. Mentors, our trained naturalists, may also be parents. This role does have a long learning curve, so the commitment for it is often longer and requires participation in staff training.

Going away to summer camp is not an option for you? Help us recruit campers for summer camp. Become a camp rep for GRP. For each new camper accepted and enrolled at GRP you can earn $100 towards your camper’s tuition. There are many ways you can do this. Keep GRP folders in your car and whenever parents ask about your child’s summer plans, share GRP with them. Host a GRP party at your house, school, or community center. Some of our campers have told us they want to help earn their tuition, too. Let them help you recruit campers. Campers who help earn their tuition, value their experience.

Summer camp is important in the life of our youth. It’s a wonderful way to help young people open up and go beyond themselves; to be their best me. It is a constant learning experience that is prompted primarily by their curiosity. At Green River Preserve, we believe that bright, curious, and creative children are the future leaders of the world. Be creative: make it happen.

Be a Camp Rep!

Karen — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 17:55:25 +0000

Our camp representatives are a vital link among campers, their families and GRP staff. They contact prospective campers, pass on information to interested families and keep an open line of communication for current camp families. As a camper representative, you could earn $100.00 in tuition credit for each referral resulting in an enrolled first-year camper. (Compensation can either be in the form of tuition credit or you can choose to donate the credit to the GRP scholarship fund.) To learn more about becoming a representative, please call Jane Izard at 828-698-8828 or send her an email.